Will staff be vaccinated? How will lunch work? Answers to CMS back-to-school questions.
Even with COVID-19 cases again on the rise, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Earnest Winston is optimistic about the start of the 2021-22 school year.
“We plan to open and operate schools as close to normal as possible,” he told school board members this week.
“We must remain vigilant as the delta variant has led to increases in COVID cases and hospitalizations in rates not seen since the start of this calendar year,” Winston said. “But we believe we are prepared to open schools and keep them open. One factor that leads to our confidence is the availability of effective vaccines.”
At CMS, classes start Aug. 25. Here’s what you need to know:
What’s the impact of the pandemic on grades?
Frank Barnes, the district’s chief equity officer, said an internal review and preliminary results show the impact of the pandemic on academic performance has been “deep and wide-ranging.”
“We need to be prepared to support students based on those results,” Barnes said.
Preliminary, official end-of-year results will be released statewide on Sept. 1, but CMS officials said they foresee declines in academic performance across the board that will require a multi-year recovery effort to make up lost ground.
The Camp CMS summer school was a first step in that recovery effort. According to the district’s data, 30,432 students enrolled in the summer program, including 19,575 at-risk students. By the end of Camp CMS, attendance had dipped to 11,275 students, including 7,437 at-risk students.
Will CMS adult staff be vaccinated?
The district isn’t requiring it, at least not yet.
Winston this week continued to plead with district employees to get the vaccine. The CMS board recently voted to require masks for all students and staff during the upcoming school year, regardless of vaccination status, which is in line with state and federal COVID-19 prevention advice.
What about other health and safety needs?
CMS is providing nurse extender services within the schools, as well as school-based vaccine clinics to support the health and wellness of students and staff. A vaccine clinic is scheduled for Aug. 17 at the CMS Education Center.
“We know students are coming back having faced varying degrees of trauma related to the impact of COVID,” said Ann White, the district’s associate superintendent of exceptional children. “To support them, we will provide support from school counselors, school social workers, psychologists and school-based mental health therapists.”
The district also is offering services through the International Center and expanded access to before- and after-school services.
What about school lunch?
As the recovery from the pandemic continues, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has granted a waiver for the 2021-22 school year that allows one breakfast and one lunch to be provided daily to students at no charge. Students and school-based staff in CMS will be provided a bar-coded ID card that will be scanned when receiving a breakfast, lunch or purchasing additional items in the cafeteria.
Do schools have personal protective equipment on hand?
Schools have received the following: cloth reusable face masks, disinfectant spray, paper towels, wipes, individual hand sanitizer, gallon-size hand sanitizer for both offices and hand sanitizer stands, disposable masks and youth disposable masks.
With ever-changing CDC guidelines, the custodial services team for the district will continue to implement the most updated cleaning protocols. Summer cleaning to support the opening of schools has included all existing schools, the new virtual schools and new school sites. District officials said that as of Tuesday, they were 80% complete. Supplemental cleaning this summer included window cleaning, high dusting and pressure washing.
What are the quarantine protocols?
Students who test positive for COVID-19 must quarantine for 10 days. Students who are close contacts no longer are required to miss school or quarantine — if the classroom has adhered to mask rules and other children are symptom-free. Most close-contact situations involve 10 days of quarantine, but that drops to seven days if a student tests negative after five days, remains symptom-free and is able to follow all protocols once returned, such as wearing face coverings.
CMS will review and publish a weekly dashboard of key health metrics on the district’s website. Officials also will review and make recommendations for revised protocols and closely monitor guidance at the local, state and federal levels.
What about remote learning?
District officials said the only remote learning allowed under current state legislation is for students enrolled in virtual schools for grades 3-12. “Districts in North Carolina are not allowed to switch between in-person and remote learning in the 2021-2022 school year,” said Brian Hacker of the CMS communications team.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Virtual High School provides virtual learning for students in grades 9-12. CMS is also going to offer two new virtual learning options for the 2021-22 school year: an elementary school serving students in grades 3-5, and a middle school serving students in grades 6-8.
Parents can still opt to send their children to any of the CMS virtual schools. According to CMS, any student enrolled in the disrict is eligible to register for a virtual school. To enroll your student in CMS, please visit the Student Placement enrollment page for next steps.
This story was originally published August 12, 2021 at 4:03 PM.
